Environmental Chemist

Acknowledgement of Country 

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. View our vision towards reconciliation. 

Role highlights

• Apply your environmental chemistry expertise to freshwater research
• Lead quality laboratory operations supporting aquatic ecosystem science
• Join a collaborative team delivering science for better water management

About CSIRO

As Australia's national science agency, CSIRO is solving the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. Many of our iconic innovations were once considered impossible until someone, just like you, joined us and took on the challenge.

Visit CSIRO.au for more information.

The opportunity 

CSIRO’s Managing Water Ecosystems research group investigates how aquatic ecosystems respond to water resource management strategies, including environmental water. Within the group, the Aquatic Ecology team studies water-dependent ecosystems such as rivers, wetlands, floodplains and estuaries, bringing together expertise across aquatic ecology, biodiversity, environmental flows, water chemistry and ecosystem function.

As an Environmental Chemist within the Aquatic Ecology team, you will play an important role in supporting freshwater ecology research through the delivery of high-quality laboratory and analytical science. Based in the Albury Chemistry Laboratory, you will coordinate day-to-day laboratory workflows and undertake environmental chemistry analyses across water and sediment samples, including nutrients, organic carbon, trace metals and other water quality parameters.

You will take responsibility for maintaining high standards of laboratory quality and safety, including supporting ISO/IEC 17025 NATA accreditation requirements, quality control processes and safe chemical management. You will operate and troubleshoot analytical instrumentation, analyse and validate laboratory data, contribute to research projects and work collaboratively with researchers across CSIRO and external partner organisations.

To be successful in this role, you will bring a strong background in environmental or analytical chemistry, with hands-on laboratory experience and an understanding of quality, safety and accurate scientific data delivery. You’ll be organised and detail-focused, comfortable taking ownership of laboratory activities and able to apply your expertise to analytical and research problems. Experience with freshwater ecosystems, aquatic ecology or Australian aquatic systems would be highly regarded.

If you’re passionate about applying environmental chemistry to freshwater and aquatic ecosystem research, this is a great opportunity to combine your laboratory expertise with meaningful environmental science, and we’d love to hear from you.

Your high-level duties will include: 

• Coordinating day-to-day workflow in the Albury Chemistry Laboratory to meet project timelines and quality specifications under general direction.
• Maintaining ISO/IEC 17025 NATA accreditation standards by conducting routine quality control, maintaining calibration logs and coordinating internal quality audits.
• Acting as the local Laboratory Custodian and Chemical Safety Officer, ensuring adherence to CSIRO Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) policies, hazardous chemical storage requirements and workplace risk assessments.
• Executing standard analytical methods for low-level nutrient chemistry (nitrogen, phosphorus), organic carbon, trace metals and basic water quality parameters, and operating, maintaining and troubleshooting routine analytical instrumentation.
• Processing raw laboratory data, performing routine statistical calculations, flagging quality control anomalies, and analysing, validating and reporting results within agreed project requirements.
• Applying specialist expertise to identify and resolve laboratory, analytical and research problems, and contributing to developing and implementing project plans, analytical methods and laboratory procedures.
• Supporting staff, students and visiting researchers, and working collaboratively with researchers across the team, wider research group, Future Water Program and other CSIRO Research Units, as well as external researchers and industry partners.

Role particulars

Location and office arrangements: Albury, NSW

Salary: AU$135K – AU$158K per annum plus up to 15.4% superannuation

Tenure & work schedule: Indefinite; Full-time (preferred) – part-time and flexible work arrangements may be considered based on needs of the role and individual circumstances.

Reference: 103931

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

Essential

• Tertiary qualification in Environmental Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline with substantial relevant laboratory experience.
• Demonstrated practical experience in environmental chemistry, specifically with water and sediment sample processing such as nutrient and organic carbon analyses.
• Practical expertise operating and performing basic maintenance on wet chemistry instrumentation, automated analysers, and spectrophotometers.
• Strong understanding of laboratory safety regulations, chemical handling, waste disposal procedures, and workplace risk assessment practices.
• Good organisational skills and attention to detail with demonstrated proficiency in processing analytical datasets, maintaining precise records, and communicating technical findings to team members.

Desirable

• Practical experience in aquatic field ecology including environmental field sampling, water sample preservation techniques, or riverine monitoring.
• Experience working within an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory environment.
• Experience in freshwater ecology testing, with demonstrated ability to independently lead and manage research projects.

For full details about this role, please review the Position Description. 

Not sure if you meet all the criteria?

While it is CSIRO policy that the successful candidate must meet all the essential criteria, there are many ways to demonstrate this. Don’t let the list discourage you. If you are unsure about applying, please reach out to the contact person in the Position Description.

Setting you up for success

We are committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible to everyone. We recognise that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. Please contact the Talent Acquisition Partner via email (see details in the Position Description) and let us know how we can support you.

Eligibility 

Applications for this position are open to Australian Citizens, New Zealand Citizens, and Australian Permanent Residents.

Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

Life at CSIRO and flexible work arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. We can discuss flexible work arrangements with you during the recruitment process. CSIRO also offers a range of leave entitlements, benefits and career development opportunities. To find out more, visit Careers at CSIRO.

Inclusion and belonging

Solving Australia's greatest challenges takes a diversity of minds and lived experiences. We know diverse teams are more effective and deliver more innovative outcomes. As an equal employment opportunity organisation, we are committed to creating diverse and inclusive teams where people feel they belong. We recognise true diversity encompasses all ages, abilities, cultures, faiths, levels of education, genders, sexualities, diversity of thought and much more. We focus on hiring people who share our values of People First, Further Together, Making it Real and Trusted.

CSIRO holds Platinum Status for the Australian Workplace Equality Index for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and a Science in Australia Gender Equity Bronze Award.

Child safety 

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs. View our Child Safe Policy. 

How to apply 

Please apply online, and provide a CV and a detailed cover letter, responding to each of the selection criteria in detail, that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role. Please attach your selection criteria responses to your cover letter as one document.

Applications close 

30 November 2026, 11:00pm AEDT